Greetings. I want to throw some of the scared into my players, and I thought, hey, wouldn't it be fun if they had to do a job in the Arc pre-shutdown? I've already hit the books, but I'd like to ask a couple questions and ask for just general advice people have on the deal.

So here's what I'm planning: the team gets a plum job to ice a computer programmer in the corp; nobody terribly important in the grand scheme of things, but a rival doesn't like the cut of his jib, so he's offering 100,000 nuyen to a team (after the fixer's cut) to kill this guy, one third of it up front. Problem is, the guy lives in the Arcology, so they need to go in and frag him.

Now, unbeknownst to the team (until the player lets it be knownst), the decker is going to have one of his contacts call in a rather large favor with the decker (said decker owes him for getting a high-rating control utility to him in near-instant time). There's a Yakuza boss, something of a loose cannon, who is having freelance deckers who maintain neutrality among organized crime killed off. Now, his superiors aren't really supporting him in this (he's a farely unsavory character anyways) but they aren't going to stop him, figuring that he'll probably do some good for the syndicate until he gets himself killed. Meanwhile, the bosses can say, "Oh, yes, he was just a bad apple, we had no idea what he was doing" and not earn the hostility of the freelance decker community. Now, this contact of the PC decker knows he's on the hit list and wants the PC decker to ice the Yakuza boss. The Yakuza boss, it turns out, also lives in the Arc.

So there you have it: a double-assasination in the Arc. If the team turns down job #1 (with the PC decker supporting it, most likely they will accept) he'll have to find a way to ice the Yakuza or lose his contact. The Yakuza is a secret BTL user; this, in addition to a few other things, presents several different ways of killing him.

Now, for the meat of the run.

What kind of ratings on security scanning devices would I be looking at for the Renraku security boys on the levels opening to the streets?

And is the Ork Underground entrance around pre-Deus?

If you'd like to comment on other aspects of the run or offer other advice, please don't hesitate.

The Orc Underground entrance would be available pre-Deus. Check here for details.

Oh neat.

Anybody have guestimates for the rating levels?

Brutal. OTOH, the Arc was open to the public before it was completed, and the ongoing construntion might have opened a few holes. Read Never Deal With A Dragon for an example.

Yeah, the whole open to the public thing was what I was getting at-what rating levels would the cyberware scanners, chemsniffers et. al be at? 8? 10? 12? Higher?

Ratings max out at 10. And 'raku would probablly spare no expense to protect their investment.

I would divide the Arc into three 'security zones'. The first would be Public Areas; the malls, parking lots, tourist areas. The second would be Resident Areas; where they store the workers, and support structures for the workers. The third would be Sensitive Areas; factories, the fusion plants, executive housing, and research labs.

I would rate security to get into public areas Moderate to Good, as too many false alarms or a manditory strip search would stop people from coming. Going from public to resident areas would be very bloody good, or extreem if you play up 'raku not wanting it's residents to leave the arc [modern US airport?]. Sensitive areas are one of the few places you can put Grimtooth's Traps in SR

Remember, no cameras in the bathrooms.

Awrighty then. Thanks much

IIRC it's cannon that there are no cameras in the bathrooms. It might be in brainscan or one of the articles that got taken out of RA:S, but the lack of cameras is stated as a reason why the resistance hides in bathrooms.

Yeah, I'd put cameras in there too. Maybe make them IR cameras so you don't abuse privacy quite so bad, even if they are hidden well. It only takes one sec guy talking to spread the word, to say nothing of some adolecent inevitably decking the lines form the woman's room

Oh yeah, I forgot about that tidbit - it's from RA:S. So never mind...hind in the bathrooms.

I know as a paranoid sec chief *I* would put cams in the bathrooms, especially on the public levels (to prevent people from abusing their priviledges of being inside the Arc.) but that's just me.

Also...remember whatever you do Deus doesn't spring into existence out of a vacuum - so plan it into your game as a GM.

And always shift timelines around slightly to stymie voracious Dumpshock readers.

Oh yes, I have Deus well in mind for this little shindig.
As for the time frame, this is occuring in January of 2058, almost two years before shutdown.

As for my players...well....none of 'em read Dumpshock

Well, that I know of.....

I'd put chem sniffers and a lot of visual security and beat cops in the public areas like the mall, locked doors with a lot of technological scanners and security cameras in the residentials, and a security rigger in the secure areas along with a lot of patrols.

Well, at all entrances there will be MADs at 7, chem sniffers at 3, cyberware detectors at 3 and gas detectors at 3, with all kinds of cameras and security guards.

And you have to slot a registered credstick to get in